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CounterPunch
February
14, 2003
Call to Washington
Stonewall Bush
By JOSH FRANK
On Valentine's Day morning Saddam Hussein released
a decree calling for a ban on the importation of chemical, biological
and nuclear weapons, and of all materials that are used to produce
them.
The United Nations has sought such a
ban for over 10 years, and Saddam's timing could not be more
pertinent for calling on the UN to continue with its inspections.
Questions must now be raised as to why the Bush administration
is so adamant to strike before all diplomatic means have been
exhausted.
Apparently the White House is attempting
to downplay such a call to stop importation and production of
WMDs, as Ari Fleischer noted, "if one would want to make
believe and pretend that Iraq is a democracy that could pass
meaningful laws, it would be 12 years late."
If I were a betting man, I would have
to bet this war has been a go for months. The UN has become an
irrelevant institution when up against the goals this administration
is propagating. NATO may soon be irrelevant as well, with three
member countries detesting a pre-emptive attack on Iraq.
Several hours after Saddam produced his
cry to stop weapons importation and production, Hans Blix and
nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei explained to the UN Security
Council that they had found "no evidence Iraq had resumed
its nuclear weapons program." But apparently the hawks in
Washington don't need UN evidence, or international support to
proceed with such an attack.
Currently the United States and Britain
have over 200,000 troops in and around the Gulf region, and next
week they expect to produce their own resolution--authorizing
a military strike with the backing of the few remaining ally
countries. NATO will be disregarded, as well as any authorization
the UN could earmark. The inspections that have been going on
since November will be rendered meaningless.
Dissent over the weekend is expected
to be on display worldwide, with the largest protests in a decade
expected in New York and San Francisco. The world is crying for
a peaceful response to the Bush Administration's unyielding attempts
to force Saddam out.
But the war movement must be prepared
to counter Bush once his bombs begin to fall on Baghdad. Election
season is approaching quickly and anti-war activists must rally
Washington politicians who oppose this attack to start speaking
out. They must take after US Senator Robert Byrd's speech displayed
last week, in which he stated that this administration "has
turned the patient art of diplomacy into threats, labeling, and
name calling.....which will have consequences for years to come."
We need a broad coalition of politicians in DC to begin their
own rants and questions about this war.
The attack on Iraq now seems imminent,
opposition among citizens is mounting, and dissent among the
international community is soaring. It is way past due for more
opponents in Washington to begin stonewalling Bush--forcing the
administration to allow more time for UN inspectors to work.
The loose cannons in the White House
can no longer afford more division on the Iraq issue; Bush's
mastermind Karl Rove is losing his footing among supporters--this
only means as dissidents we have to stay vigilant--we can still
win this.
Josh Frank
is a 24-year-old writer and activist living in Portland, Oregon.
He can be reached at: frank_joshua@hotmail.com
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